Knowing My Assignment

Posted by Jim Thornber on September 1, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , . 2 Comments

No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. John 3:27

NoTrespassingI was sitting in church a while back when the pastor read this verse from John. Naturally, I respected his sermon by immediately tuning him out and writing my own notes. As most of you know, there are usually two sermons we hear on Sunday—the one the pastor preaches, and the one we preach to ourselves on the way home. For my own rude reasons, I didn’t even wait to get into the car before I was preaching to myself.

For me, the dilemma isn’t that I don’t know my assignment, but how to say no to those things I know are close to my assignment. For example, I know my God-given gift is to teach Scripture, but that’s a very broad canvas, so I’ll focus it. My gift is to teach Scripture to believers. That’s better, but let’s focus it further. My gift is to teach Scripture to adult believers. Ahh, that’s even better. But let’s go a step further. My gift is to teach Scripture to adult believers who have a passion to become sold-out disciples of Jesus of Nazareth.

Because I understand my gifts, I don’t have to say “Yes” to teaching children’s church or the invitation to be a youth minister. I’m not interested in going to China as a missionary, starting an inner-city work, or teaching social studies in the local middle school. Those are all close, but not close enough. Knowing my assignment means I can say “No” to those things that are not my heavenly gifts. It is easy to see God did not gift me to play linebacker in the NFL or dunk basketballs in the NBA; God gifted me to teach His word. Continue Reading

Undeniable

Posted by Jim Thornber on August 25, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

“The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John . . . . They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.” – Acts 4:13

calvaryI want to live an amazing life. That doesn’t mean I want to be a superhero or win a championship ring or accumulate a shelf full of awards for writing. It means I want people to be amazed at all the things that happened through me because they recognize me as one “who had been with Jesus.” Wouldn’t that be amazing?

At the end of my life I want everyone, the people who like me and the people who wished I would just go away, to say “You can’t deny Jim loved Jesus.” The religious leaders looked at the life of Peter and John and could not deny that a miracle had taken place. Acts 4:16 says, “We can’t deny that they have performed a miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it.” Try as they might, there was no way they could talk themselves out of seeing a miracle standing before them – a man who had been lame for more than forty years. That’s what I want. I want saints and sinners alike to be able to look at my life and say, “There’s no denying it – the way Jim lived was the way His Savior taught him to live, and everybody who knew him knew it was true. He wasn’t perfect, but you didn’t have to wonder about where his heart and mind was.”

I encourage you to live your life so that when the end comes, people cannot deny that you lived your life for the One who gave His life for you. There will always be people who won’t like you and a few who won’t respect you. I’m sure the Sadducees felt that way about Peter and John. But they couldn’t deny the results of their life. Because they’d spent time with Jesus they were able to give the healing power of Jesus to a lame man and the miracle was undeniable. It wasn’t popular with the rulers and elders, but they couldn’t dismiss it, either. The best they could do was command Peter and John not to speak or teach in Jesus name. Well, good luck with that. Continue Reading

Got Character?

Posted by Jim Thornber on August 18, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , . 1 Comment

 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being (Hebrews 1:3)

 GOT-CHARACTERA few years ago, a church I attended in Arkansas hosted a Thanksgiving service to raise money for the ministerial alliance. The alliance asked our church to lead in the praise and worship, and I played the piano on the worship team. Looking over the congregation, I noted a pastor from another church who, no matter what we sang, refused to either clap his hands or raise them in worship. He simply sat in his pew with his arms folded.  That struck me as strange, because outside of church he was a happy, vivacious, demonstrative man.

I have never been known for my extreme subtly or bashfulness, so as we gathered for refreshments after the service, I questioned him his about posture. “Why, when Scripture instructs you to lift up holy hands to the Lord, and you have a chance to do so in a public service, did you sit with your arms folded across your chest?”

“Well, you see,” he began to stammer and laugh, “I’m a . . . .” and he named his denomination. I cut him off and said, “Are you a denomination first or a Christian first?”

At this point, he began to look around for help from the people who had gathered, including my pastor. He asked, “Is he always like this?” to which my pastor replied, “Hey, he’s going easy on you.” Everybody gathered around laughed.

It is sad that many church members (or goers) around the world are more concerned with offending their denomination and the people in the next pew than they are in obeying the Word of God. The congregation led by the pastor in my story will have trouble obeying Scripture because he was not setting an obedient example. In a simple sense of the word, this pastor lacked character. Continue Reading

Would I Worship Or Would I Whine?

Posted by Jim Thornber on August 11, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , . 5 Comments

“Jesus said to the woman, ‘I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.’ But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, ‘Lord, help me!’”­ — Matthew 15:24-25

 

Worship & Praise - OrangeA few weeks ago a pastor in my town brought this passage to my attention. It is the story of Jesus leaving Galilee and going north into Tyre and Sidon, which was Gentile territory. A woman who lived there came to Him and pleaded for Jesus to heal her daughter, who was tormented by a demon. As a response to this request, Jesus remained silent.

Today, silence is a most hated concept. With iPods, the internet, radio and television blaring everywhere we go, we’ve learned to distrust the sound of silence. Silence is wrong. Silence means something is broke. Silence makes us wonder if we’re still alive if all we hear is our own breathing.

Add to that silence the fact the people hanging out with Jesus urge Him to send her away and you have an emotional breakdown in the making. But she doesn’t go away. She just stands there and waits for the Son of David to answer her request. And when Jesus does speak, it is not as the meek and mild Jesus we sing about in church.

“I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel,” He says. Great. Not only is Jesus treating her with silence, now He says he wasn’t sent for her. Apparently, there are people whose needs are greater or better or more deserving than a mother with a child possessed by a demon.

At this point in the story, I’d be ready to tell the Son of David what He can do with His Messiah complex. I mean, if God is going to be that callused as to tell me that others are more deserving of His mercy and grace, then it’s time to find another god.

But what this woman does next just astounds me. Verse 25 says, “But she came and worshiped him.” Is that what I would do? Would I worship God after He has been silent, after the church folk have suggested He send me away and finally after God says He’s not here for me? I’d be more tempted to whine about how life is all against me than to worship a God who intends to ignore me.

But now this woman challenges me again, for in her humility she acknowledges that everything Jesus said was true. She was not an Israelite, Jesus was not here for her first, and she shouldn’t get the meat from the table. All true. It is only the proud people like me who think Jesus’ arrival on earth was all about meeting my personal needs according to my personal timing. When will I learn that even the scraps from God’s table are richer fare than any five star meal the world has to offer? Isn’t it better to be a dog in God’s kingdom than a king in the realm of Satan? This woman has seen how the demons treat people like her daughter, and she knows there’s more compassion in the crumbs of God than in the lies of the loftiest fallen angel.

Now, let’s look at this passage from another angle. Yes, Jesus was silent, but He was there. He was in her presence and He didn’t leave. In fact, He came to her town; she didn’t travel to him. There is always hope when God is present.

Next, we see that silence isn’t a refusal. He was silent but He didn’t say no. In silence there also is hope. Don’t let the silence of God or the quick answers of the critics send you away from what you need most.

When Jesus replied He was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel, there is still hope. For if that was true, what was Jesus doing in Gentile territory? Sometimes we think God is only going to help the good people who are worthy. But this scene reminds us that God came to save the world, because the entire world is as unworthy as this Gentile woman. God is increasing her faith – and that is something we could all use a bit more of.

So, the next time God is silent to my requests, I need to remember that His silence doesn’t mean “No.” I need to remember that Jesus came to me before I came to Jesus, for that reminds me how important I am to Him. I need to remember that the critics who want me to disappear have forgotten that Jesus chose to be with me, and I’ll stand in His presence as long as He’ll have me.

Finally, when God tells me the truth about who I am, I need to remember that even a mutt like me has a place at theMutt Banquet table of God. Sure, life may not always go as I’d like it, but Jesus has entered the room and where He is, there is hope.

 

 

 

 

The Time Is Now

Posted by Jim Thornber on July 21, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

NowName some things that scare you, things all you need to do is think about and you become fearful and terrified. This is the direction my mind went when I read how Governor Felix responded to Paul in Acts 24.

In this chapter, Paul has been accused of stirring up riots all over the world, of being a ringleader of a cult of Nazarenes and desecrating the Temple. Felix and his wife Drusilla want to hear from Paul, and verse 25 says, “As he reasoned with them about righteousness and self-control and the coming day of judgment, Felix became frightened.”

And he should be frightened, for that is what happens when people are faced with the truth they know they are not living. But that isn’t the part that is frightening. What Felix says next should cause us all to pause and be a little scared. Felix says, “Go away. When it is more convenient , I’ll call for you again.”

Those five words — “When it is more convenient” — may be some of the most terrifying words in all of Scripture. Why? Because putting God first in our life is never convenient. What we mean when we say “When it is more convenient” is we’ll fit God into our schedule when it suits us, not when it suits Him. The Voice translation of verse 25 says, “When I have time, I will send for you again.” I cannot help but wonder how many times and in how many different ways we’ve all said to God, “When I have time, I will send for you again.” Continue Reading

When God is Silent

Posted by Jim Thornber on June 30, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

“Keep up your courage, Paul! You have successfully told your story about Me in Jerusalem, and soon you will do the same in Rome.” – Acts 23:11

Taize-SilenceAs far as we can tell, this becomes the last time Jesus appears to Paul. We don’t have any records, either in Acts or in Paul’s letters that the Lord ever appears to Paul and encourages him again.

Have you ever felt God wasn’t speaking to you anymore? I’ve had people ask me what they should do when God feels silent and far away. I say don’t live by your feelings. Psalm 139:7 finds David asking, “Can I go anywhere apart from Your Spirit? Is there anywhere I can go to escape Your watchful presence?” Then David goes on to answer his own question. “If I go up into heaven, You are there. If I make my bed in the realm of the dead, You are there. If I ride on the wings of morning, if I make my home in the most isolated part of the ocean, even then You will be there to guide me; Your right hand will embrace me, for You are always there” (vs. 8-10 The Voice).

Consider the many times you sat in the presence of your parents, not saying anything, just being. Maybe you were fishing, or watching a movie, or playing a game. No conversation was needed because you weren’t there to converse – you were there to be. Sometimes God seems silent because no words are necessary.

Furthermore, God is in the silence because, in reality, God is never silent. He has told us what we are to do and He expects us to do it. Too many times we badger God with more questions because we didn’t like what He’s already said. Then when He remains silent we think He’s abandoned us. He hasn’t left us—He’s just waiting for us to do what He’s already told us to do. Continue Reading

I Don’t Know How Good I’ve Got It!

Posted by Jim Thornber on June 23, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

  “Even an ox knows its owner, and a donkey recognizes its master’s care – but Israel doesn’t know its master. My people don’t recognize my care for them” – Isaiah 1:3 (NLT)

DonkeysI did not get up this morning intending to write. All I really wanted to do was check my e-mail and a few sports scores, and then settle down and read some nice, comfortable, soothing, spiritually uplifting and self-esteeming Scripture. Why I chose Isaiah is beyond my understanding.

As you can tell, I didn’t make it past verse three. At first, I wanted to ridicule and scoff at Israel for not knowing their God and forgetting everything He has done for them. The Lord rescued them from their Egyptian masters, gave them a land overflowing with abundance, established a lifestyle of worship and peaceful existence with their God and continually protected them from their enemies. In response to God’s marvelous care for them, the Israelites show a tremendous lack of gratitude and turn their backs upon Him (Isaiah 1:4).

After I finished thinking bad thoughts about a group of people who died 2,700 hundred years ago, I started to consider the many ways this verse speaks of my life. In how many ways do I not recognize God’s care for me? It didn’t take long to compile a list.

When I started thinking about the many ways God cares for me, the first item that came to mind was the fact I live in the United States. This realization is not to put down the many other fine countries in the world, but to recognize just how many comforts and securities I have living in America. Clean water, the freedom to vote, low gas prices (comparatively speaking), the strongest military in the world making sure I sleep peacefully, the liberty to worship when, where and how I choose. The list could go on and on. I know that my standard of living is higher than most of the world and I need to be grateful for it. Just living in America is a privilege the Lord has blessed me with, and I don’t want to ignore that fact.

After first acknowledging my personal comfort level as an American, I finally moved on to remember the many blessings I have as a Christian. What you now see is me thinking physically before thinking spiritually, which is mostly true. Continue Reading

To Be In Our Right Minds — A Father’s Day Memory

Posted by Jim Thornber on June 16, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

holding handsThe phone call came, as they usually do, at an inconvenient time. It was my mom, calling from Mississippi, telling me in Baton Rouge that my dad was in the hospital in California and had cancer. This was definitely not convenient. I called my dad and told him I was flying out in a couple of days to see him. He said he was looking forward to my visit.

My relationship with my dad had been rocky at best for the last twenty-five years, and I was not really looking forward to the trip. It was the right thing to do, but not necessarily the first thing I wanted to do. I was angry and hurt by what took place during and after my parent’s divorce, and though I wanted answers, I didn’t really want to go through him to get them.

The next day I told my boss about my departure. He asked me how things were, and I gave him a quick version of our relationship. He said, “Sit down. I want to talk to you about my dad, who has bi-polar disease.” We talked for a few minutes and I said, “Your dad is just like all of us. Not one of us is really in our right minds, are we? For if we were, we wouldn’t live a life that needed a Savior.”

The idea that none of us are in our right minds bothered me, so I began to explore Scripture to support my idea. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds” (italics mine). If our mind was right, then it would not need to be “renewed.”  I only renew my driver’s license when it has is no longer valid. I do not have to renew something that is proper, valid, and sufficient for the task it was created for.

Now if my mind is still in the process of being transformed and renewed (and I think I have a fairly adequate mind), what about the minds of those we call “disabled”—those who are autistic or have Down’s syndrome?  We all understand that their minds are not “right,” and we don’t condemn them because of the things they do with the minds they were born with. Instead, we grant them a great deal of latitude because of their disability.

But then, aren’t we all a little “disabled”? Not one of us is fully functional in our mental capacities – not in the way God created us to be.father and son

Perhaps this is why Paul told us to “carry each other’s burdens” (Gal. 6:2). All of us are a burden, in some form or manner, to those around us. If I want you to bear my shortcomings, I need to put forth the effort to put up with some of yours.  In this way we do for others what we want them to do for us.

So where am I headed with all of this? One day we will all stand face to face with God (1 Cor. 3:10-15), and only then will we be in our right mind. 1 Cor. 13:12 says, “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” All those people we love—those with Down’s syndrome and bi-polar disease, those we’ve never had a decent, intelligent conversation with, whom we’ve never really known because of their infirmity—one day we will stand next to them before the throne of God. On that day God will open their minds as He will open our own, and for the first time we will “know fully” and be in our RIGHT MINDS!

With that picture in my mind, I flew to California to see my dad. I found I no longer needed answers as I sat in a chair beside his bed for ten days and listened. I saw a man who did the best he could with the mind and abilities he had, and I chose to love him as he was. At first, I didn’t want to go and see him, but in the end I didn’t want to leave, and I cried for hours after I left him. He died about two weeks later.

But this I know and in this I hope: One day my dad and I will stand together at God’s throne, and I will finally see my dad as he truly is, and he will see me. And with the approval of God, my dad and I will walk hand in hand into an eternity of knowing as we are fully known, and loving as we are fully loved. Isn’t that what it means to be in our right minds?

father-and-son-rise

 

Jesus MADE Them Struggle

Posted by Jim Thornber on June 9, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , . 3 Comments

“Immediately after this, Jesus made his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake while he sent the people home . . . . Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land” – Matthew 14:22-27

 

boat 2This is a passage that many people have trouble with, because it tells us that God sometimes instigates hard times in our lives. It is important for us to be reconciled with this concept,  because if we do not, we may find ourselves forever kicking against the goads (Acts 26:14).

Just after Jesus feeds the five thousand, the gospels of Matthew, Mark and John tell us that Jesus “made” the disciples get into the boat and go to the western shore of Galilee. This word “made” may also be translated “compel,” “necessitate” or even “force.”  It is a very strong word that leaves little doubt the disciples did not have a choice in the matter.

What we see in these passages is Jesus forcing the disciples into a boat He knew would take them into a storm, find them “straining at the oars” (Mark 6:48) and ultimately blown off their intended course. The disciples, intending to take a short boat ride across the northern tip of a lake that is merely four miles wide, soon find they were still in the middle of the lake (Mark 6:47) after rowing three or three and a half miles. They were in a storm and going nowhere fast. Fortunately, Jesus rescues them by walking across the lake.

At first, this sounds like a heartless thing for Jesus to do. Why would God send them (or us) to a place where He knows they will fight, strain and struggle, only to wind up further from their destination than when they started? I believe that Jesus needed the disciples to learn a number of lessons, and the first lesson was that He was sovereign over all His creation. Continue Reading

Casual Christianity

Posted by Jim Thornber on June 7, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

I thought I’d share a little excerpt from this Sunday’s sermon called “Your Last Will And Testimony.” This is part 49 in our continuing series on the book of Acts.

Those who are most active in church work, be it in the physical part of the building or in looking to build lives through witnessing or teaching, are those who can say with Paul, “This is a true saying, and everyone should believe it: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—and I was the worst of them all” (1 Tim. 1:15). Until we are truly aware of the extent that our sin cost God the death of His one and only Son, we will be casual observers of the Christian life. Until we come face to face with our own sin and how much God loves us, we will continue to play with Christianity at our own convenience. Until we are absolutely convinced that we have no life outside of the grace and mercy of God, we will continue to make God someone we admire and mostly agree with when it suits our mood and fits into our schedule. But anytime being a Christian or going the extra mile to become a disciple costs us too much, like getting up early to get the kids ready for church, or budgeting our money so we can tithe, or not just joining those who gather for a Bible study but actually contributing to the conversation, we’ll take the easy way and find an excuse to put God second to our current desires for comfort and ease.